1919 NSWRFL season

1919 New South Wales Rugby Football League
Teams	8
Premiers	Balmain (4th title)
Minor premiers	Balmain (4th title)
Matches played	56
Points scored	1474
Top points scorer(s)	A McPherson (89)
Top try-scorer(s)	Gordon Wright (17)
← 1918 1920 →

The 1919 New South Wales Rugby Football League premiership was the twelfth season of Sydney’s professional rugby league club competition, Australia’s first. Eight teams from across the city contested during the season, with Balmain finishing on top of the ladder to claim the premiership.^[1]

Season summary

Balmain and Eastern Suburbs dominated the 14-round season, dropping just two and three games respectively. Balmain were undefeated after eight rounds but a mid-year Australian tour to New Zealand saw the black and golds lose their representative stars and their lead was lost to Eastern Suburbs for one week late in the season.

With eleven rounds played, Balmain led Eastern Suburbs by one point on the ladder but relinquished this lead by losing their round 12 match against Glebe as Eastern Suburbs beat winless Annandale 28–0. This meant Eastern Suburbs now led by one point with two rounds to play. However, they lost the very next round 15–12 to South Sydney, who had won just four of their twelve previous matches. Meanwhile, Balmain managed to beat Newtown 18–5, giving them the one point advantage heading into the final round.

The final match of the season turned out to be the decider for the premiership, with the top two teams playing one another at the Royal Agricultural Society Ground. The winner of the match would take out the premiership, whilst a draw would give Balmain the title. At the end of the day, it was the goal kicking of Balmain's Les Wall that secured the premiership, with a 13–4 win over Eastern Suburbs. Five of Wall’s attempts hit the post that day, but four crossed the bar and won Balmain the title.^[2] Members of the Balmain premiership winning side included Bob Craig and Bill Kelly.

The City Cup was won by Wests for the second consecutive season.

Teams

The teams remained unchanged from the 1918 season

• Annandale
• Balmain, formed on January 23, 1908, at Balmain Town Hall
• Eastern Suburbs, formed on January 24, 1908, at Paddington Town Hall
• Glebe, formed on January 9, 1908
• Newtown, formed on January 14, 1908
• North Sydney, formed on February 7, 1908
• South Sydney, formed on January 17, 1908, at Redfern Town Hall
• Western Suburbs, formed on February 4, 1908

Annandale 10th season Ground: Wentworth Park Coach: Captain: Walter Haddock	Balmain 12th season Ground: Birchgrove Oval Coach: Captain: Bob Craig	Eastern Suburbs 12th season Ground: Sydney Sports Ground Coach: Captain: Ray Norman	Glebe 12th season Ground: Wentworth Park Coach: Alex Burdon Captain: Tom Leggo, Albert Burge
Newtown 12th season Ground: Wentworth Park Coach: Charles "Boxer" Russell Captain: Albert "Ricketty" Johnston	North Sydney 12th season Ground: North Sydney Oval Captain-Coach: George Green	South Sydney 12th season Ground: RAS Showground Coach: Captain: Howard Hallett	Western Suburbs 12th season Ground: St. Luke's Oval Coach: Captain: Tedda Courtney

Ladder

	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	Pts
1	Balmain	14	11	1	2	277	109	+168	23
2	Eastern Suburbs	14	9	2	3	229	108	+121	20
3	Western Suburbs	14	9	0	5	239	130	+109	18
4	Glebe	14	9	0	5	209	134	+75	18
5	Newtown	14	6	2	6	123	186	-63	14
6	South Sydney	14	6	1	7	208	223	-15	13
7	Annandale	14	1	1	12	86	270	-184	3
8	North Sydney	14	1	1	12	103	314	-211	3

References

External links

• Rugby League Tables - Notes AFL Tables
• Rugby League Tables - Season 1919 AFL Tables
• Premiership History and Statistics RL1908
• Results: 1911-20 at rabbitohs.com.au

This page was last edited on 26 March 2024, at 04:36